OAKLAND — Coach Don Nelson said Wednesday that he will start to sit some veterans occasionally for games as a way to get more playing time for his younger players.

First to grab some pine: guard Jamal Crawford for Friday's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I'll do that periodically because I have a logjam at (shooting guard) and it's probably better not to try to play everybody," Nelson said after practice, in which he figured the average age of the participants was about 23. "Just give a guy a game off every once in a while."

The decision to sit Crawford figures to benefit Marco Belinelli and Anthony Morrow. Before Monday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Morrow had played in just three of the Warriors' past eight games, averaging less than three minutes.

But Monday against the Clippers, all 10 who played had at least 13 minutes, including 13:36 for Morrow and 17:46 for Belinelli.

"I'm more apt to let (young players) play through mistakes," said Nelson, who, overall, has been happy with the development of his young players. " ... As long as they stay within their (limitations), I can live with some mistakes."

It wasn't clear as to whether Crawford will be listed as inactive or sit because of a coach's decision, or who will start in his place. He hasn't had "Did Not Play — Coach's Decision" beside his name in a box score since his 2000-01 rookie year with Chicago.

Nelson has been around for 30 years and won 1,300 games," said Crawford. "I'm not going to ever question what he's doing. He wants to play young guys, and I understand. They've worked hard all year."

The Warriors do not have as much depth at small forward, although Nelson said Stephen Jackson, averaging over 40 minutes, probably will see his playing time reduced.

OAKLAND — Warriors guard Jamal Crawford is sure to be at Oracle Arena tonight, even though he's been given the game off by coach Don Nelson.He said he will be sure to bring a blazer so he can sit on the bench instead of watching the game from the locker room. And he'll probably be smiling and high-fiving, supporting his teammates."I'm a professional," Crawford said. "I'm not trying to cause a stir. I'm going to do whatever Coach thinks is best for the team. I'm going to always show up for my team."But if you think for a second he'll be happy, or that he asked to sit out, you'd be wrong. Crawford's agent, Oakland-based Aaron Goodwin, made it clear he and his client are not happy about Nelson's decision to sit Crawford."Jamal wants to play," Goodwin said in a phone interview on Thursday. "That's what he came here for. If the coach doesn't want to play him, he should have a valid reason why he doesn't want to play him."Nelson said he decided to bench Crawford to make room for his younger guards. He said he will sit his veterans at various points throughout the season, but he said swingman Stephen Jackson — the league leader in minutes per game entering Thursday — would be harder to grant a day off because the Warriors are thin at small forward.But Goodwin is concerned that Crawford is being taken advantage of, that Nelson chose to sit Crawford because he was the most likely to take it without complaint.Goodwin said his concerns would be diminished if Nelson benched the other veterans as well, but he still doesn't like the idea of his client being held off the court when healthy."What is the message that Coach Nelson is sending the team? That he does not care about winning?" Goodwin said. "You would think, in this day and time when fans work hard to pay for these tickets, that the coach would field the best possible team. Jamal may not score 50 points on the Bobcats again, but he would work hard to get a win and reward the fans for their loyalty to this team in this hard time."Crawford, second on the team in assists (4.5 per game) and third in scoring (19.1) ran with the second unit for the second consecutive practice. Nelson said after Thursday's practice that C.J. Watson will start at point guard in Crawford's place. Shooting guards Marco Belineli and Anthony Morrow, a rookie, figure to get more minutes, too, with one less perimeter player suiting up.Adding to the oddity of the situation is Crawford has the ability to opt out of his contract, which has two years and $20 million remaining after this season. He has maintained that he wants to stay with the Warriors long term. But the move by the Warriors to bench him against his wishes doesn't seem to send the message that they want Crawford to stay.Crawford maintained he would make his decision about his opt out after the season. After Wednesday's practice, when Nelson announced his decision to sit the ninth-year guard, Crawford said he wouldn't question the decision of a coach with Nelson's pedigree.His agent had no such reservations."As an agent and a longtime fan of the Warriors," Goodwin said, "I totally disagree with this."Notes: Guard Monta Ellis left for Mississippi on Thursday to tend to a family emergency, a team official said. Ellis, who was at practice but did solo work, will rejoin the team at some point on the road trip. ... Jackson was not at practice on Thursday. He was having emergency dental work done. ... Swingman Corey Maggette did not practice as well. He was seen by the team doctor, who confirmed he had a sprained right hand. He is listed as day-to-day.

I doubt the agent made that public statement without Crawford's permission. Can't really blame him though, sitting him against a team he scored 50 on, a night when Ellis isn't going to play and a night when Maggs might not play.
I actually kind of wish Nelson would have the self control to play his starters 20-25 minutes, and then get the young players in (regardless of score). But judging by his waistline, self control is something Nelson does not have.

Crawford sits tonight, then Jackson, then Biedrins: Don Nelson is king of the world

Posted by Tim Kawakami on February 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm | Categorized as NBA, Warriors

I didn’t understand it when Don Nelson first announced he was benching a series of veterans over the next few Warriors games, starting with Jamal Crawford tonight against Charlotte, other than a good guess:

Nelson is screwing with everybody’s heads, once again, for no tangible reason other than just to show that he can.

I stayed quiet for a day, and now I’m really sure: Nelson is REALLY trying to screw with everybody, including the players directly and indirectly involved, their agents, team management, poor Warriors fans and yes, us mean media members.

Nelson is screwing with everybody just to show that he’s still Don Nelson, and that everybody else cares more about the games than he does, that nobody can manipulate the conversation like he can, so he’s automatically cooler than everybody.

(Better watch out: Bobby Rowell might be so confused by this strategy that he’ll give Nelson a 10-year extension!)

What a strange coach. And yep, he’s got 1,300 wins.

Nelson says he’s benching Crawford tonight, then Stephen Jackson the next game, then Andris Biedrins after that, in order to make sure he can get playing time for some of his younger players.

My silly little point: Don, you’re the coach. You can actually limit guys’ playing time just by removing them from the game for an extra few minutes or three or 10. You. Are. The. Coach.

You don’t need SJax dressed in a suit in order to keep him under 39 minutes in any particular game. All you have to do is, you know, take him out of the game with 4 minutes left in the first quarter and the leave him out until there are 6 minutes left in the second. Then do it again in the second half. Easy!

Here’s what I think is the biggest thing Nelson is trying to communicate: THIS ROSTER IS SCREWED UP BECAUSE IT HAS TOO MANY SHOOTING SWINGMEN.

Nelson wants us to know he can’t win with this group. And that if they don’t win, it’s not his fault. He’s the Great Don Nelson.

OK, he’s not wrong on the lopsided nature of this team, but he’s also to blame for piling up so many similar players and for not putting them into different roles–I mean, Corey Maggette is Kelenna Azubuike is Anthony Randolph, in Nelson’s system.

Isn’t that SmallBall in a nutshell: Everybody runs around and confuses the opponent, which actually has big men and small men and has a hard time matching up with Nellie’s Little Guys?

Yes, the roster is unbalanced.

What’s Nelson’s solution? He’ll never say, because he’ll always claim that he’s not the one who put the roster together. He’ll put it on Chris Mullin. Or he’ll say, gee, look at Utah with Boozer and Williams. I want them.

Nelson’s the one who’ll have to tell Larry Riley what to do this summer–trade Monta Ellis? Move Marco Belinelli (who, as late as this summer, Nelson apparently recommended as a candidate for release)? Urge Crawford to opt-out?

I personally think Crawford is very unlikely to walk away from $20M in guaranteed money this summer, but oh well, Nelson might be attempting to shove him out, anyway. Just for fun.

Nelson won’t ever commit to a public plan, of course. He agitates. He manipulates. He moves people around, then shrugs his shoulders and says, “Who me? Go ask Mully!”

This is typical Nelson, who repeatedly said he was happy with his roster–when I asked him–over the last few weeks and yet he now has to forcibly sit proven players in order to get a rotation set that includes Marco Belinelli, Anthony Randolph or Anthony Morrow.

Really? Can’t wait until Phil Jackson benches Kobe Bryant for a few games so he can figure out how to play Trevor Ariza. Oops, Phil actually figured that out while both were playing last year.